Maxim Magazine Mans Up

For the first time, the U.S. edition features a solo male on the cover.

While some recent online chatter about Idris Elba being in line to take over as James Bond proved false, we can confirm that the British actor has been licensed to thrill Maxim magazine readers. As the publication’s first-ever U.S. edition solo male cover star.

Per Racked assistant editor Adele Chapin, this is just the latest feather in the gender-bending cap of EIC Kate Lanphear:

“For me, Elba was really the perfect embodiment of what I think the new Maxim man is,” says Lanphear. “He’s multi-dimensional, he’s complex, he’s sophisticated, but he’s down to earth. It was funny when on set, I was like, ‘Is there anything this guy can’t do?’ He’s an award-winning actor, he’s a DJ, his capsule clothing line for Superdry is about to hit stores. The guy broke the [British] land speed record which hasn’t been touched since like 1928. He’s sort of a living, breathing superhero.”

Another sign that this is no longer a Maxim magazine obsessed with Bond girls? The cover line that reads The Fat Jew. The September issue hits newsstands tomorrow.